All The Best Laid Plans, Part II

The good news: in 2014 I did finish BIRTHRIGHT. And believe it or not, I wrote a collaboration with a friend. I also started another collaboration, and have been working feverishly on book 3 in the DESCENDANT series. I prepared WATER SO DEEP for publication. I attended a Utah conference and one in Kansas—and none in Texas. And I no longer live by the beach (boo!) but the mountains instead.

In 2014 I learned two very valuable lessons. 1. I can work through the hard stuff, even if it happens slowly. But equally important, 2. I realized that I don’t always have to.

I am allowed to not write for a month. Or two. I am allowed to catch up on TV shows I’ve missed instead of writing blogs, and to go Christmas shopping instead of finishing a chapter. Because stuff happens, and I am human.

I have high hopes for this year.

1.       The ebook of WATER SO DEEP will release February 2^nd. The hardcover may be a week or two later, depending on circumstances beyond my control. And that’s OKAY.

2.       Book 3 in the DESCENDANT series is about half-drafted, even though it should have been to the editor by January 1^st. And that is also okay. I will catch up, and it will be published on time. (I HOPE.)

3.       WSD will have a sequel, and I will write it and hope to prepare it for publication sometime this summer. Maybe.

4.       My collaborations and other projects will continue to move forward. I hope to finish at least two of them aside from the above mentioned projects.

But if life happens and things get in the way, I will adapt. No matter what goals or resolutions I reach, I will keep writing, keep trying, so that no matter what, by the end of the year, I will have made progress.

And that, my dear friends, is the whole, entire point.

Progress for the win!       

Why I’m not Making New Year’s Goals for 2014.

Yeah, you read that right. I’m not posting a list of tasks I intend to complete for 2014, or giving myself deadlines to accomplish those things.

It’s not that I don’t think making lists isn’t an important step in succeeding. I do. And it’s not that I don’t believe it’s absolutely necessary to have goals and ideas and plans for how to achieve those objectives. I do. In fact, I’ve made goals/lists every year for as long as I can remember.

It’s just that this year I’ve decided to do something a little different. After November’s epic NaNo failure, I learned a very important lesson. Sometimes life gets in the way. Sometimes we have to be flexible and adjustable and learn how to adapt. 2013 was one of those years for me. 2014 might be another. We’ll see.

*cue over-played theme song*

I came in like a wrecking ball…

I still have goals. And hopes. And plans. But this year, rather than a list of goals, I’ve made…wait for it…

Resolutions.

Uh, what? Yeah. Resolutions. Check it out.

I resolve to:

See more good in people.

Respond to rudeness with kindness.

Be more patient, accepting, and tolerant of others.

Not compare myself to other people, or my life-path to anyone else’s life path.

Be a better listener.

Be forgiving of my own flaws, and remember that flaws make us unique.

Write something meaningful and lasting.

Read more books.

Write more words.

Learn how to share what I know with others in an entertaining, informative way.

Find the humor in all things.

Laugh every day.

Do something terrifying and exhilarating and wonderful.

There are other things I hope to accomplish this year. Practical things. Business-minded things. Personal achievement things. But as I think about it, I’ve decided that this list is the more important one, the one that deserves my focus. The one list that might truly make 2014 my best year yet.

Have you resolved anything like this? 

What I Want Most

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want. And I’m not just talking about how badly I sometimes crave Girl Scout cookies, Black Forest gummy bears, chocolate, or Dr. Pepper. No, I’m thinking about what I want in life, in my career, with my family, stuff like that.

You may remember me quoting James Owen a couple weeks ago. He said, “Never give up what you want most for what you want most in that moment.” So I’m trying to figure out what I want most in the future and how I might be able to obtain those things.

For instance, I really, really want a literary agent and a publishing contract with a national publisher. I also really, really want to someday make money on something I write.

And I know I could have the second without the first. I could. If I choose to self publish my work, I could probably make a few dollars here and there. Maybe more than a few. But it’s really unlikely that money would be as satisfying to me as money that might come from holding onto the dream that will take much longer to reach. And while money is important to me, it isn’t as important as reaching those other big goals.* So I’m holding onto my dream and being patient.

I’d love to live somewhere tropical-ish. Or, I could go on a trip, and call that enough. (I vote for the long-term permanent solution.)

Someday I hope to write three full books per year. Or, I could write articles instead and make a little money on the side, but that would significantly cut into my ability to write novels.(I choose to focus on novels that might help me reach that goal above.)

Long term goals require planning, and also an investment of time in the present, as well as the future.

Kind of like climbing a ladder. Most of us can only climb one rung at a time, and at our own pace. Some people climb higher than they ever have, and are content (as they should be). Others feel the need to go all the way to the top.

What about you? What dreams are you holding onto in hopes of reaching a higher rung?

*NOTE: This is only what feels right for me, not necessarily for you—only you can decide that.

Life After Success

Last week my friend Carolyn asked if her blog readers believe people change once they have succeeded in achieving important goals. This is not a new question for me, but for some reason, Carolyn’s has stuck with me all week. It’s on my mind, apparently.

I told her (and her readers) that I think to some degree, everyone changes. When you set a goal and reach that goal, it's inevitable that something inside you grows and becomes more than it was as you were looking to achieve it.


However, it is up to the individual person to decide what they do with that change. Will you let it go to your head? Will you treat people differently? Will you allow all your time to be swallowed by new things? Will you make or find time for the people or projects that matter to you, even if you can't see a benefit?


Some of us will be fundamentally different once we find that success for which we've so long reached.


But some of us, even in changed circumstances, will remain fundamentally the same. We may be busier. We may have more things on which to focus. We may even have to reevaluate where our priorities lie. But we will still be that person who once struggled to reach a goal. And we will strive to NEVER forget how we got there or how difficult that journey was.


I pray every day that when I find my success, it will change me only for the better, and that I will never, ever be tempted to forget those people who have been so important to me.

(Yep, that’s pretty much my blog comment, word for word.)

What about you? Have your current successes changed you at all? In which ways? And do you think future successes will continue to change you on a core level?

My Kind of Resolutions

Oh yes, it may be a trendy thing. I have lots of goals this year, too. But more importantly, I have resolutions.

What’s the difference? Hm. I think goals are like targets for which you can aim. For instance, go to the gym four times a week, polish two manuscripts and draft a third, send at least 100 queries (or find an agent or get a deal, whichever comes first), read 75 books, learn to scuba dive. Stuff like that.

But a resolution is more of a state of mind, a type of behavior, a change to the very way we act.

Over the holidays, I’ve had a lot of time to think about people. About human beings and our different conditions and circumstances. I think part of my thinking was spurred on by L.T. Elliot’s post about being capsized. But that’s not where it began. I think it started a long time ago, and was brought into sharp relief over the holidays.

And so I’ve made a different list of resolutions this year. I hope some of you will join me.

1. Love. Love everyone I should, and even some I shouldn’t, and love hard, because you never know when the important people in your life won’t be there anymore.

2. Forgive. Even the people who don’t deserve it. Because holding onto anger and hate only serves to make us miserable. And no one wants to be miserable.

3. Give. Give back to the world, give up impossible expectations, give of myself, and give something my all.

4. Create. Happiness, dreams, and the kind of life I really want to live. Because happiness starts from within, and must be created first within our hearts.

5. Dance. Alone, with a group, with people I love, as well as strangers. Because dancing, well. It’s fun. And healthy. And it makes me feel amazing.

6. Sing. Because I like it. Because I can. And really, besides myself, who’s listening anyway?

7. Jump. Off a cliff, into the water, into new ideas and out of old habits. Just jump.

8. Smile. At everyone. Even when they make me mad. Because everyone has bad days, and a smile might make things better.

9. Shop. For the best possible deals—some of the best things in life come free.

10. Ride. The wave fate has thrown for me. And never let it suck me under. I AM strong.

So now you know my plans for 2012. Which do you think are more important, goals or resolutions? What are some of yours?

A Brand New Year

Now that the holidays are over and 2012 is here, people all over the world are making resolutions and goals. Some will be reachable. Some will not.

Believe it or not, I think it’s okay to have a few goals you probably won’t be able to reach in a year. However unlikely, going big gives us something to reach for, to work on, to dream about. And as long as we also set ourselves goals we CAN reach, ones within our control, these are the things that make life interesting.

One of my goals for the year is to rearrange some things and simplify certain areas of my life. For instance, I’m changing my blogging schedule from Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to just Wednesdays and Fridays, with the occasional (maybe once a month or so) contest, which I will probably post on Monday. Hopefully, cutting back (just a little) will make it easier for my readers to keep up with my posts, as well as giving me more time to focus on writing other things.

I’ve also decided to plan a sort-of guideline for my regular posts. I realize that while a good portion of my readers are also writers, that percentage doesn’t include everyone. So I’m going to post about writing on Wednesdays, and about regular life things on Fridays.

For instance, this Friday, I’m talking more about goals. Hope you’ll join me.

To Get Into the Ice Capades

*Last week I blogged about Possession by Elana Johnson. This week, I shared more thoughts on the Star Crossed Book Reviews blog. Come see what I thought!* 

There’s a line in the movie Pretty Woman, it’s toward the end, but a supporting character says, “You gotta have a goal. Do ya have a goal?” to which the other woman replies, “Well. I always wanted to be in the Ice Capades.”

And okay, in the context of the movie and the way it’s said, the line gives you a good chuckle. But it’s also one of the movie’s most identifiable, universal truths. It boils down to this. If you don’t start out with at least one goal—say, to learn how to ice skate—you will most certainly never reach the end result—aka make it to Ice Capades.

When I first started writing (and by “first started” I mean, right after I made a conscious decision to make a career attempt at it) someone said to me, “The most important thing you can do is to finish.”(And by finish, he meant the rough draft of a manuscript.) To a non-writer, that might sound kind of lame. I mean, duh, right? But the truth is finishing a manuscript is one of the hardest parts of writing. And at the time, it was exactly the direction I needed in order to set my first big goal. FINISH. It didn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it didn’t even have to be good. It just had to have a beginning, middle, and end.

And so I did. I finished a terrible, indescribably awful story that will never, ever, ever see the light of a publishing press, because I won’t torture the world in that way. But I finished. I reached my first big goal. Then it was time to set other goals: Edit, revise, query, scrap it, start over, finish another book, edit, revise, query, submit, start a new book, edit, revise, query, query, query…and on goes the process of setting milestones.

Six years later, I’ve learned a LOT more about writing, and my plans and ambitions have grown in size and space and height.

Finish.

No matter what we’re trying to do, that original truth will always remain. You must first learn how to skate before you can perform. You must first learn how to write before you can publish. You must first SET a goal before you can reach it.

What are your goals this year and how will you go about reaching them?

*Be sure to come by on Wednesday and enter my next frawesome giveaway!

Speak, Act, Do

On Wednesday I talked about making progress on my most recent project. I’m allowing others help push me to finish—because, you know, we could all use a little push now and again.

One of the things I’ve learned in the last few years is that writing, just like with everything else in life, you have to first decide you’re going to do it, then act on that decision and follow through. Sounds easy, right? But not always.

I can think I want to do it, tell myself I’ll do it tomorrow, or on another day or whatever, but it’ll never get done if I don’t actually sit down and, well, get to work. Correct? Procrastination is my enemy. So I make a goal, figure out what needs to happen in order for me to reach that goal, and then get to work.

It’s more than just working through a list, though. It’s allowing myself to sometimes be distracted and then finding other time to catch up. It’s failing every so often (aka rejections or setbacks), but not allowing those small failures to cripple me. It’s about learning how to aim high, higher than I ever imagined in my wildest childhood daydreams.

Writing and life are both about growth of self aren’t they? And no one can reach my personal goals but me.

Speaking of goals, I should get back to work. The end of summer is rushing in like a hurricane. How are you doing with your goals for the summer?

With a Little Help from My Friends

This summer my friend Windy and I made a pact. We have this goal to finish the rough draft of our works in progress (one each) together, almost as a writing marathon—or more accurately, a sprint.

Truth: I don’t know if I’ll actually get my draft finished by the end of August.

But. I’ve made LOTS of progress, and am happy. I expect to have a livable draft by the official calendar end of summer (Sept 20th). And even though Windy feels doubtful about her progress, I suspect she’ll finish by then as well.

Here’s how it goes: every night, we meet via Twitter and support each other in our #amwriting attempt. As soon as we get started, others inevitably join us and we have a nice party of support. And because I know that someone else is there, waiting for me, I have extra motivation to show up and get to work.

Whether or not I finish the full draft, I’ve made progress. I’m so much farther along than I was when we started this challenge.

It helps tremendously to have someone working along with me, to have someone expecting something from me. Have you found this to be true as well? Who expects progress from you? (If you answer no one, come play with us on Twitter! We’ll get you going.)

Life, Guilt, and Realistic Goals

Okay. I don’t know if I mentioned it here or not, but I have this personal deadline to get my current work in progress finished by the first week in September (was end of August, but I’m allowing a week of leeway). This means I need to write fresh and/or edit 50-60,000 words, including a climax and ending. (When I say edit, I don’t mean polish. We’re talking finishing a rough draft here.)

So when I have weekends like this past one, I have some guilt. I accomplished a lot of things, but not much writing at all. Life just didn’t allow for it. And on the one day when I should’ve had time, I was so exhausted and achy, I actually took a nap. (I know, I should be imprisoned.)

But I still intend to finish this book. How? I have no idea. I just will. I’ll give up some pool time (yikes, did I just say that?) and probably some sleep (eek!) but I’ll finish this draft.

And I will let go of the guilt I’ve been feeling when I take an hour to go to the pool, or to take my children shopping. Or to take a much needed nap. Because here’s the thing. Writing, like everything else, requires some basic brain function, which begins to shut down if you never take a break, never get any sleep, and never spend time with your loved ones.

So guilt-be-gone. Even writers need a good, solid dose of realism every so often.

What are some things you’ve given up in order to write?

What I Learned Last Week

1. Service = love. Start with family, then work your way out.

2. Sometimes the needs of others are more important than our personal needs. And sometimes they aren’t.

3. When something I’ve done makes a person smile on the outside, I feel all happy and smiley on the inside.

4. Be careful with your gadgets when going to the pool. Water+phone=BADBADBAD! (And to think I considered--for a short minute--taking my netbook!)

5. I am completely dependent on technology, and I’m really okay with that.

6. The Apple genius squad knows how to make things all better. For a price.

7. I can live without hot water for at least three days—maybe more. I can deal with damage to my car—yes, my beloved Mustang—without tears. The loss of my phone for 30 hours was life-altering, traumatic, and completely crippling.

8. But my family means more to me than my phone, and cannot be fixed or replaced by the guys at Apple.

9. Sometimes life keeps you from writing when you really, really want to write. Even when you have fantabulous ideas that must be scribbled onto a napkin as you’re waiting at a traffic light, hoping that when you get to a computer you can read your writing and make sense of the jumble of words.

10. It’s okay if I didn’t make my weekly goal. All I can do is what I can do, and then pick up where I left off and try again next week.

Ahh. Summer.

Goal for July: FINISH at least one of the two rough drafts on which I’m working. Hold me to it, peeps!

Things I Love, Day 4: Dreams, Goals, and Aspirations

You know that famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr.? I have a dream...(Yeah, okay, I know. Everyone knows about that speech.)

But really, I do have a dream. Lots of them, actually. And goals, and aspirations and plans. Not just for myself, but for my family, my friends, the world. I dream that my children will find and follow their passion, discover their place in life and the universe. Me too, but in a different sense. I've found my passion, my calling. Unlike my teenagers, I'm finally to a place where I know what I want. And I'm learning how to get it.

I create goals, follow through, move forward. And as I find success--whatever the size--my children are watching me, learning. Growing from lessons I'm being taught .They're seeing first hand what happens when you aspire to do something, be something, and allow it to drive you.

My dreams are what drive me. And because those dreams include my family and our future, the fire that burns in me, the passion for my goals is passed on to them. They may not become authors, but it is my hope that my kids will grow up knowing that it is possible to follow a dream. That dreams are worth fighting for, worth sacrificing other wants and desires.

We don't know what will happen tomorrow, or next week, or even next year. But today, we can work diligently, knowing that if we keep at it, eventually, our hard work will pay off.

I love that. I love that by seeking out my personal goals I am setting an example for my children to do the same. But even more than that, I really just love that I'm able to dream. To picture something in my head and wonder what it will be like when that dream becomes a reality. I may be a fiction writer, but when I dream, I dream big. Real. Solid. Goals I intend to reach and surpass. There will always be something for which I am reaching, and my journey is a lifelong, never-ending one.

Yeah. I love that too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwkpihGwSj0
**I was going to post a video here, but it's disabled. You'll have to click the link. But it's worth it. This is a great, great song. 

Up To The Challenge!

By Nichole (Duh!)



I suppose, being that it's already July 3rd, that perhaps I should map out my goals for Tristi Pinkston's July writing challenge. Considering how I'm participating this month, and all.



In April, I had some big, lofty plans for what I hoped to accomplish. But as it turned out, April was just not my month for writing, or editing, or even cleaning my house. And...I didn't get much of anything done. So, basically I blew the whole challenge. I was not up to it.



However, July is an entirely different story. For one thing, even though my kids are out of school for summer break, I will not have to carve out four or five days for a "spring break" family trip. (Our summer trip is weeks in the past, so that's a good thing.) Also, the Storymaker's conference isn't this month. I know I'm not involved in the planning for that conference, per-se, but because my writer's group is sponsored by the Storymakers, there was lots of plotting and planning going on--especially for social things among ourselves. We sure are quite the chatty bunch when we get together. Plus, we just don't see each other nearly often enough. Then, take away Easter (which requires shopping and preparation that the July holidays don't) and my daughter's birthday, and...yeah. July is looking more productive. I hope.
So--short story long--my official goal is going to be realistic enough to reach. Because, even given all the things I just listed, it's still summer, the kids are still out of school, and I still end up staying up late into the night if I want to write.


This month I'm planning to add 30,000 words to my work in progress--hopefully bringing it to a conclusion or coming close enough that I can go back and do some serious rewrites that will help shape the plot. That way, when I take my chapters to critique, I will know they're relevant.



Ta da! That's it.



Wish me luck!




PS. There's still time to enter my summer rocks contest. See the post below for details!